River and Eleven through Clara's eyes
by EpicNinjaChica
Summary: As she made her way up the stairs to the console room, however, she was shocked to find, not the Doctor, but a woman, with graceful curves and bouncy curls. Intrigued, Clara hid behind a column and watched her. Oneshot. River/Eleven.


Clara lay in her bed in the TARDIS, unable to find sleep. She rolled over restlessly and sighed. This was gonna be a long night…

She heard a short zapping sound from the direction of the console room. She got up quickly, tiptoeing to the door. What was the Doctor up to at this hour?

As she made her way up the stairs to the console room, however, she was shocked to find, not the Doctor, but a woman, with graceful curves and bouncy curls. Intrigued, Clara hid behind a column and watched her.

The woman was wearing a green dress with a plunging neckline and tall, brown leather boots. She had a gun in a hostler on her hip, which threw Clara a bit. The Doctor was never one for guns. This woman must be a friend of the Doctor's, (who else would have been able to get into the TARDIS?) but why would a friend of the Doctor need a gun? And what was she doing here in the middle of the night?

The woman placed a hand gently on the console and the TARDIS made a content humming noise. Clara frowned. The TARDIS seemed to like this woman.

"Hello, Old Girl. It's been a while, hasn't it?" The woman said fondly, smiling softly. Clara tried not to notice how pretty she was. "Has the Doctor got a companion these days?"

The TARDIS made a distasteful sound and a picture of Clara appeared on the screen.

"Ah, yes, young Clara. You don't like her much, do you?" The woman chuckled, shaking her head. Clara sighed. She never could get the TARDIS to cooperate with her.

"Judging by the new console and companion, I'd say this is post-Manhattan?" She went on. The TARDIS hummed in agreement. "Excellent. For once, we're on the same page."

"Now, then. Where is my husband?" Clara started at the word 'husband.' There was no way her Doctor was married!

"Right here," came the Doctor's voice from the top of the stairs across the room. He swaggered down the stairs and stopped directly in front of her, placing his hands on her hips. She put her hands on his neck and smiled.

"Hello, sweetie." She pulled his lips to hers and kissed him fiercely. The Doctor reacted immediately, one of his hands sliding up between her shoulders and the other sliding across her hips. She tangled her fingers in his hair. Clara blushed and turned away, embarrassed. She heard them moving but didn't dare to look up until she heard their panting laughter.

When she did look up, the woman was sitting on the edge on the console, the Doctor standing in front of her, her legs wrapped loosely around him. He had his hands on her back, holding her close to him. Her hands had returned to his neck, one of them running through his hair softly.

"Oh, River, it's been ages since I've seen you," the Doctor chimed, leaning forward to kiss her nose. Clara was shocked. This was Professor River Song? From what the Doctor had told Clara of her, she hadn't even realized River was a woman. And the Doctor had said described her as a mad, brilliant warrior who let nothing stand in her way. Surely this couldn't be the same person.

"I've missed you too, my Love," River let her head fall against his shoulder and sighed happily. The Doctor wrapped his arms tightly around her in response. Then River said something in a language Clara couldn't understand. (Which was odd. Wasn't the TARDIS supposed to translate everything?) From the way River's eyes shone when she said it, and the way the Doctor's voice shook with sincerity when he repeated it, Clara understood that the strange statements were declarations of love.

Clara was starting to feel guilty for snooping, and had just turned back toward her room when she heard the Doctor call her name.

"Clara, I know you're there." Clara winced and turned slowly back to face him, grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry for eavesdropping, I didn't mean to, I just, I heard the zappy noise and I thought it was you, Doctor, but then I came out here and there was this woman I've never seen before and she was talking to the TARDIS and I guess I got carried away and-" Clara rambled on nervously.

"It's fine," River interrupted her. "Just don't let it happen again." River's voice had an edge to it, a threatening undertone that made Clara shiver. Maybe this could be the warrior the Doctor described.

"River," The Doctor whispered warningly. "Play nice." River pouted but said nothing. "Right, then! River, this is Clara, my companion. Clara, this is my wife, Doctor River Song."

"Why didn't you tell me you were married?" Clara asked, cocking her head to the side. The Doctor shrugged.

"You never asked," he stated simply.

"You don't wear rings," Clara noted, looking at River's and the Doctor's empty ring fingers.

"We can't," River sighed, frowning. "The Doctor and I are both time travelers, and we always meet in the wrong order."

"So if I were to run into a younger version of River, before I married her, and I was wearing a wedding band, it would complicate things," the Doctor added.

"How did she get on the TARDIS?" Clara asked after a moment. "I thought the shields prevented anyone teleporting onboard…" River grinned and help up her wrist, which had a small device wrapped in leather with a few buttons and a small screen.

"Time-vortex manipulator. It allows me to travel through space and time easily, but it's not nearly as smooth as riding the TARDIS," River explained. "The Doctor linked it to the TARDIS so I can take the shields down remotely with it."

"Bloody horrid way of travelling, vortex manipulators…" The Doctor muttered.

"Oi, you! If it weren't for the bloody vortex manipulator I'd hardly get to see you!" River reminded him.

"You'd still get to see me!" The Doctor insisted.

"Oh, sure, whenever you remembered me…" River mumbled.

"What?" The Doctor looked at River, but she was looking at the ground.

"Nothing, sweetie," she said, still not meeting anyone's eyes. Even Clara could tell the smile she'd plastered on her face was a fake one.

"Clara," the Doctor said softly. "Could you give us a minute?"

"Yeah, no, you two catch up, I'll…I'll be in my room," Clara replied quietly, taking one last look at the strange woman with the gun before she walked back down the stairs to her room.

Once Clara was gone, the Doctor turned to his wife once again. He put his palm on her cheek gently, trying to coax her into looking at him. She stared at the floor.

"River…River, look at me, please," he whined. River sighed and looked up to meet his eyes, smiling sadly.

"Yes, my love?"

"Do you really think I could forget you?" he trembled.

"Sometimes it seems like you already have…" She answered in a small voice.

"I visit you every night, in Stormcage!"

"Yes, my love, you visit the younger me, in Stormcage every night. And I'm glad you do because I loved every minute of it. But what about me, now? The me that's no longer in Stormcage? This me,who rarely gets to see this version of you, my Doctor? Now I only ever see the younger versions of you…And they're not so nice at all," her voice broke at the end. "So, forgive me, Doctor if I pop in here every once in a while and catch you off guard, because I really need days with you, this you, so I can deal with the younger ones when I see them."

"Oh, River, come here," the Doctor cooed, pulling her into his arms. She let her head fall onto his shoulder, pressing her face into his neck and crying silently. "I'm so sorry for how I treated you back then, if I could take it back, I would. I can only hope to make it up to younger you now, so that when you do meet younger me, you'll have the sweet memories of your doctor to get you through it.

"I love you, River Song," the Doctor said for the second time that night, this time in English instead of Old High Gallifreyan.

"I love you, too," River sighed, and she whispered his name, not his title, but his true, secret, name.

The Doctor pressed his lips to hers and grinned.

"Now, then, why don't we break in the new bedroom the TARDIS built for us?"

"Lead the way, sweetie."


End file.
